Sunday, August 7, 2011

Dan Choi Reports From Amsterdam

Dan Choi spent the weekend hootin' it up with the Amsterdam gays for their Pride celebration, being included in their "parade"-- a flotilla of gaylicious Pride floats chuggin' down the canals of the Netherlands' largest city.

Dan never misses an opportunity to dress up.

"This weekend, in front of half a million Dutch families and revelers, the Amsterdam Gay Pride parade showcased a truly historic statement: 85 gay (including 2 transgender) servicemembers in full dress uniform with Dutch Defense Ministry officials in the first ever sanctioned military gay pride contingent. Three active duty gay generals were with us on the uber-gay float. We were literally floating, too: the canals that line the city of Amsterdam, built in the 17th century, were our parade route. Lots of saluting, lots of cheering, lots of dancing… lots of 'IN THE NAVY' blasted over and over and over again. (Did you know the song was originally owned by US Navy Recruiting? …hat-tip: Michael Bedwell)

"British Lieutenant Commander Mandy MacBain, Chief Diversity and Inclusion officer for the Royal Naval Service joined me in officially opening 'Canal Pride 2011' with an appropriate theme: 'All Together Now.' In spirit of cooperation we held the scissors together while cutting the pink boa held by leaders of PRO-GAY, the group organizing the parade. Her partner Joanna joined us on the boat, and the three of us comprised the foreign contingent. They set up flags for us near the back of the boat but by the time the parade kicked off, the soldiers pushed us to the front, to stand with their generals. This was quite an unexpected honor."

Dan also celebrated our President's birthday with a cake baked by the Democrats Abroad:

Let him eat cake.

Jane from FireDogLake has his whole account of the trip, click on over. Dan even got flipped off by an anti-war Niederlander! What luck. I would have gone (the Dutch Ambassador was just screaming for my attendance) but I was clearly far too busy playing Battlestar Galactica Online to be in his boat thingy. Whatevs!